Twinsburg, Waste Management close to $5.4 million contract

Twinsburg would stay with Waste Management, residents to see larger containers

by Conner Howard | reporterPublished: January 31, 2013 12:00AM

Twinsburg -- Residents may see new, and larger, trash and recycling containers on their curbs with a new $5.4 million waste disposal bid being considered by City Council.

The bid is expected to be awarded to Waste Management Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas. Split into yearly payments, the five-year contract is expected to be worth approximately $5.448 million. The bid was presented to Council Jan. 22 and was sent to a second reading. Council will consider the bid again Feb. 5.

This one-day-a-week collection plan was chosen over a second bid for a five-day pickup plan from Rumpke, based in Colerain Township, that would have cost $6.75 million for five years.

Public Works Director Chris Campbell recommended the city stay with Waste Management, which serviced city residents during the previous contract.

The new contract would begin April 1 with Council approval Feb. 5, with the new bins expected to be delivered to residents by June 1.

The citywide program will change slightly from what residents have seen, following a pilot program in Ward 1 that has gone on since February 2012 that used larger bins with automated pickup.

The new disposal program will involve 96-gallon trash bins and 64-gallon recycling bins -- up from the 18-gallon recycling bins and resident-provided garbage cans -- on a one-day a week collection schedule. The pickup system will involve mechanical arms on the trucks that lift bins automatically. The pickups would not be limited to what residents can fit into the bins and residents may request smaller bins.

"There's theoretically a lot less litter, because those lids are staying attached," said Public Works administrative assistant Karen Schkurko.

Campbell said the new cart system is expected to increase recycling tonnage by 10 percent to 30 percent.

"What will happen in this case, if we increase our recyclable tonnage, it should equate to a similar decrease in refuse disposal," Campbell said.

The system was tested in Ward 1 with positive results, said Ward 1 Councilman Sam Scaffide.

"The system was tested in my ward, it's been in place there almost a year," Scaffide said. "There was a really good response [from residents]. Questionnaires were sent out and out of 600 residents, I believe we got around 300 responses. It seemed like about 90 percent of them were in favor of the automated system."

The pilot program involved pickups every other week for trash and recycling. The new contract will have weekly pickups.